Functional divergence of proteins through frameshift mutations

Frameshift mutations are generally considered to be deleterious and of little importance for the evolution of novel gene functions. However, by screening an exhaustive set of vertebrate gene families, we found that, when a second transcript encoding the original gene product compensates for this mutation, frameshift mutations can be retained for millions of years and enable new gene functions to be acquired.

@article{331404,
abstract = {Frameshift mutations are generally considered to be deleterious and of little importance for the evolution of novel gene functions. However, by screening an exhaustive set of vertebrate gene families, we found that, when a second transcript encoding the original gene product compensates for this mutation, frameshift mutations can be retained for millions of years and enable new gene functions to be acquired.},
author = {Raes, Jeroen and Van de Peer, Yves},
issn = {0168-9525},
journal = {TRENDS IN GENETICS},
keyword = {EVOLUTION,GENES,GENOME,DATABASE,CLONING,FAMILY,DECAY,PAX8,OLD},
language = {eng},
number = {8},
pages = {428--431},
title = {Functional divergence of proteins through frameshift mutations},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2005.05.013},
volume = {21},
year = {2005},
}